Republican tide hits governor races

Republicans make notable gains despite Dem wins in N.Y., Mass.

WASHINGTON - Republicans on Tuesday defeated Democrats for governorships in at least eight states, including some prime presidential battlegrounds, and the GOP hoped for even more statehouse gains.

The same tide sweeping Republicans into office in Congress was leaving its mark on governor's mansions as well, especially in the nation's industrial heartland.

The gubernatorial races were especially important this year. There are a record number of them on the ballot - more than two-thirds of the states. Lost in the GOP onslaught: governorships now held by Democrats in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Ohio.

Even so, there were a few bright spots for Democrats in the face of an anti-incumbent groundswell, including key gubernatorial victories in New York, Massachusetts and Maryland.

New York Democrat Andrew Cuomo surged past "tea party" Republican Carl Paladino to win the governor's seat, the same post his father, Mario, had held two decades ago.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick won a second term, defeating Republican Charles Baker and two other candidates. Patrick and Obama share Chicago roots and Harvard Law degrees, and national Republicans tried hard to topple him.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley withstood a hard-fought challenge from his predecessor, former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch and Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, both Democrats, were re-elected.

Denver's Democratic mayor, John Hickenlooper, was elected Colorado governor despite a challenge from both Republican challenger Dan Maes and immigration hard-liner Tom Tancredo, a former Republican House member. Hickenlooper replaces Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, who did not run for re-election.

California voters returned Democrat Jerry Brown to the office 28 years after he left it.

With his win Tuesday, the 72-year-old state attorney general will take the helm of a state mired in recession and high unemployment after defeating Republican Meg Whitman, a billionaire who spent $142 million of her personal fortune on her campaign.

Brown's victory will return the governor's office in the nation's most populous state to Democratic control. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves in January after more than seven years in office.

But most of the news for Democrats was gloomy.

A tea party-backed South Carolina Republican, state Rep. Nikki Haley, was elected to replace term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford. Haley won over state Sen. Vincent Sheheen.

Republican Susana Martinez won the New Mexico governor's race, making history as the first Hispanic woman to become a state's chief executive.

Florida's was among the hardest-fought races in the country, with both parties spending millions on the race between Republican businessman Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink, the state's chief financial officer.

In Ohio, Former Rep. John Kasich defeated Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio and seized GOP control of a state considered crucial to the 2012 presidential election.

In a high-profile race into which both parties spent millions, Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who has already served 10 years, defeated Democrat Bill White, a former mayor of Houston. Perry, who earlier survived a spirited GOP primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, had aligned himself with the Sarah Palin wing of the Republican Party.